Read the article
and choose the best option to complete the text – a, b, c, or
d.
The government has “no idea” how much water (015.
_____________) from rivers and groundwater, according to an
Environment Agency (EA) whistleblower, as swathes of England remain
in (016. ______________) despite recent heavy rainfall.
Abstractions were monitored on a (017. ______________) system but
the agency’s inspections were a (018. ____________), said the
whistleblower, because, in most cases, the abstracting individual
or organisation would report how much water they had removed based
on what they had noted down on a particular day – and “they have to
be taken at their word”. Abstractions of less than 20 cubic metres
a day became (019. _____________) from licensing in 2005 under the
Water Act. The move instantly deregulated 22,000 licenses, most of
which were for agricultural or private water supply purposes. (020.
_____________) on the beach at Bexhill, East Sussex Southern Water
(021. ____________) 493 times in eight days at bathing beaches’.
There are no plans to require abstractors (022. ____________) water
meters. The EA insider said that omission meant the system would
remain seriously (023. ____________). “You can change how much
water a license allows, but it’s pointless if there’s no meter to
record it,” they said. From next year, the agency plans to “start
investigations to determine the changes that may be required to
individual permanent abstraction licenses”. Until then, it will
“continue to seek voluntary changes to abstraction licenses through
(024. ______________) and adopting nature based and catchment
solutions, where possible”. An EA spokesperson said: “We are taking
robust action to end environmentally damaging water abstraction –
and we monitor the amount of water in our rivers and groundwater
along with assessments of the impact of water abstraction in all of
our (025. ______________). “License holders must monitor and record
how much water they abstract and our program of inspections ensures
they comply with these strict conditions. We will not hesitate to
take (026. ____________) in cases where conditions
are not being met.”